Susan
Moore

2013 Caucus Application Portfolio

Subdivided Views: For many years now I have been photographing the landscape seeking to discover the many ways in which people interact, live and coexist with their environment. This new body of work depicts an idealized view of nature that is fundamental to the subdivisions surrounding South Bend, Indiana. I began this project, photographing the homes within the subdivision, Ranch Acers, where I live. Many of the images are in essence a portrait of a home, a depiction of the façade and the exterior landscape. And, although there are similarities between the homes as each one is typical of subdivisions as a whole, it is the unique qualities that drew me to each of these places. I admire the care many homeowners take in maintaining their lawns. Expressing their pride through the exterior of their home shows the cultural significance of the home in relation to the American Dream. Beyond the individual homes, I continued photographing the wide swaths of land that subdivisions encompass. The places where the development presses against its surroundings and the somewhat empty space that cushions and creates distance between the homes. In these quiet places, the underlying bucolic nature of the suburb is most evident. These images depict my engagement with my immediate surroundings. The wide-angle lens exaggerates the expansive lawns and amplifies the distance between the home and the camera, illustrating the privacy and the quiet isolation embodied in the subdivision.